A former Subway franchisee claims the company knew about spokesperson Jared Fogle's sexual interest in children since at least 2008. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

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Subway may have known about spokesperson Jared Fogle's alleged desire to have sex with children since 2008. At least, that's what the former owner of a Subway restaurant in Florida tells Business Insider. Cindy Mills, who was a Subway franchisee from 2006 to 2012, says Fogle started calling her every day after she met him at a company event in 2008. She says he would make inappropriate comments, telling her "he really liked them young." Mills says Fogle told her he'd had sex with child prostitutes, some as young as 9, in both Thailand and the United States and even encouraged her to prostitute herself on Craigslist. Mills says she went to executives within the company with her concerns but was ignored. Her attorney has confirmed the allegations to AP.

Mills tells Business Insider she spoke to the CEO of Subway's affiliated advertising company, which employed Fogle, and he told her Fogle had recently met a woman who would hopefully "help keep him grounded." Mills offered to show the executive texts from Fogle, but he stopped her, reports AP. The executive, Jeff Moody, is no longer affiliated with Subway and has declined to discuss Fogle. Mills says she didn't go to police because she feared Fogle's "money and influence" and didn't want to lose her job. Business Insider reports Mills did request to remove all images of Fogle from her restaurant, but Subway denied that request. "Every time I would see him on TV in a commercial with his arms around these children, it would kill me," Mills says. "I couldn't stand it anymore." (A talented police dog played a crucial role in Fogle's arrest.)